Website Monitoring

EDGI is monitoring changes to tens of thousands of federal environmental agency webpages because the effects of proposed changes to federal environmental governance under the current administration could be sweeping and long-lasting. Our work involves monitoring and analyzing how online information is removed or changed, sometimes in subtle but significant ways. For an in-depth analysis of how federal climate change web content was censored in the first year of the Trump administration, check out our report: Changing the Digital Climate.

Our Website Monitoring Team monitors and documents changes to federal websites, compiles reports on changes and themes, and works with journalistic partners to publish these findings. After an in-depth internal vetting process, we work closely with partner journalists to ensure context is provided for the changes we have observed. We then aim to disseminate our reports widely so that other journalists, local governments, and environmental advocacy groups can conduct their own analyses of issues that matter to them.

Access Assessment Reports

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) | Report written: October 31, 2018 | Since April 2017, ​EPA has substituted their climate change subdomain​ with a splash page stating that these sites were being updated to reflect the views of the Trump administration. In October 2018, EPA modified that splash page to remove any mention of “updating” and to simply state, “We want to help you find what you are looking for.” EPA also removed links to the outgoing administration snapshot (January 19, 2017 snapshot) of the climate change website main page and to the press release about the initial removal of the climate change websites.

Department of the Interior (DOI) | Report written: December 21, 2017 | 92 documents regarding national parks’ response to climate change have been removed from the National Park Service (NPS) “Climate Friendly Parks Program” website. NPS is part of the Department of the Interior. To become a Climate Friendly Parks (CFP) member, parks are required to meet four milestones, which include developing a baseline of greenhouse gas emissions for park operations and completing a park climate action plan. Links to the parks’ action plan documents and to two webpages detailing aspects of two particular parks’ plans have been removed from a list of the Program’s member national parks. No public NPS Web archive has yet been identified, but instructions to email NPS for access to the parks’ action plans have been added.

US Department of Agriculture (USDA) | Report written: August 1, 2017 | Between the evenings of July 27 and July 28, USDA removed substantial portions of its Climate Hubs website. The web content was removed for approximately 5 days without notice or explanation and was returned following media inquiries made with the USDA based on the release of the report above.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) | Report written: July 12, 2017 | Web resources were removed from the “Endangerment and Cause or Contribute Findings for Greenhouse Gases under the Section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act” ​page​ on the EPA’s website. The lack of access to these resources likely originated from mismanagement of web resources during the EPA’s climate change website overhaul, which occurred on April 28, 2017, and not a more recent removal of content.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) | Report written: June 29, 2017 | The EPA overhauled its website pertaining to the Clean Water Rule. The previous website, which extensively described the ​Clean Water Rule and its benefits​, was replaced by a website providing information about the EPA’s review of the Rule.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) | Report written: May 5, 2017 | As a result of the EPA’s Climate Change website overhaul, the “A Student’s Guide to Global Climate Change” subdomain is no longer accessible via the main EPA website and is incorrectly stated as captured in the EPA’s January 19 snapshot.

Content Change Reports

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) | Report written: July 2, 2018 | In late 2016, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) webpages on climate change were altered to remove mentions of the impact of climate change on occupational safety and health. Climate change mentions and information, including many sentences and a chart detailing the relationship between climate change and workplace health and safety, were removed from pages. An entire page linking to government and academic publications addressing the impact of climate change on worker health and safety was removed.

Department of the Interior (DOI) | Report written: January 9, 2018 | DOI’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) removed its climate change webpage and altered language on several webpages describing BLM’s mission, management of public lands, and national priorities.

Department of the Interior (DOI) | Report written: April 28, 2017 |The DOI made changes to its climate change page, removing and re-writing descriptive paragraphs and entire sections on the DOI’s role in addressing climate change.

Government Accountability Office (GAO) | Report written: April 4, 2017 | The GAO page on managing federal oil and gas resources has been edited to change the framework within which natural gas production is discussed. Content on the environmental and public health risks of shale oil and natural gas production was also removed.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) | Report written: March 28, 2017 | The EPA’s Climate Ready Water Utilities program was renamed to Creating Resilient Water Utilities. This change was reflected on the program’s page – all mentions of the word “climate” were removed and terms like “extreme weather” and “resilience” were emphasized.

Department of the Interior (DOI) | Reports written: February 13, 2017 | The DOI’s Bureau of Land Management’s language about the purpose of the 2015 Hydraulic Fracturing Rule and a link to that rule from a page on regulations for onshore energy production were removed. Additionally, a section on, and link to, the proposed Methane Waste Prevention Rule was removed.

Department of State | Report written: February 10, 2017 (Updated: April 12, 2017) | The description paragraph for the Office of Global Change has been significantly changed. In particular, the terms “adaptation” and “sustainable landscapes” have been added, while the term “greenhouse gas” has been removed. Several links, including one to the Climate Action Report, were removed.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) | Report written: January 31, 2017 | The description of the role of the Office of Water’s Office of Science and Technology, in the EPA, removed any mention of science, and replaced a mission of developing scientific foundations for protecting people with developing economically and technologically feasible industry performance standards.

Department of State and Department of Energy (DOE) | Reports written: January 26, 2017 | On the Department of State’s website, the descriptions of the Office of Global Change and the Office of the Special Envoy for Climate Change were changed. In addition, pages relating to climate change agreements, such as a page about the Climate Action Report, were removed. On the DOE’s website, the Climate Action Plan page was removed.

Additional Publications and Posts

Disclaimer for all EDGI Reports: The information and images within the report are for general information purposes only. The scope of this report is limited to version monitoring information of publicly available websites. EDGI has no control over the nature, content, or sustained availability of the websites we monitor. While EDGI works to assure that the information in this report is correct, that information is subject to the limitations of version tracking software, and is provided “as is.” EDGI makes no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness or reliability of this information, nor does EDGI intend to assess any agency or entity’s intentions or rationale for the demonstrated changes to any webpages or other online content that appear in this report. Do not rely on the information in this report as predictive, or ascribe intent not presented within the report. In no event will EDGI or any of its members be liable for the use or misuse of the information in this report. Please consult with an appropriately qualified expert if you require qualitative evaluation of or advice about the content of this report.